Posted on February 22, 2010
I forgot all about this, until I just saw a picture in the news and it all came back to me.
My wife and I were living in Alaska, and just moved from Eagle River to a great little condo in Girdwood. Girdwood is an AMAZING small town, nestled in a valley about 40 miles south of Anchorage. The cornerstone of Girdwood is Alyeska – a decently sized ski resort. Our condo was at the bottom of Chair 3 and we could basically ski right into our living room.
The year was 2004, and the US Alpine Championships were going on at Alyeska. However, somehow, I had NO CLUE about any of it. Maybe it was my 40 mile commute along one of the most dangerous avalanche-blizzard-mountain goat stretches that had me delirious.
Anyway, I noticed there was a commotion in front of the condo, with sled dogs and some folks in native Alaskan garb. I grabbed my camera as a chance to shoot some sled dogs, and headed out.
I soon realized there was a guy and his (cute) girlfriend trying to get into the sled, and everyone was laughing, having a good time. I started shooting and shooting just for fun. It soon seemed to me, that something more was happening than just some random people getting into a sled with a team of dogs. As I was shooting, I casually asked the guy…”who are you?”
“Uh..” He froze and looked at me. “I am Bode Miller.”
While I do [did] quite a bit of skiing, and lived in one of America’s best ski towns, I was not a big follower of Olympic sports. I casually asked one of the handlers next to me “Okay, who is Bode Miller?”
I have long since lost these images from before I was a pro. Unless they are hiding on some external drive in the attic… It might be time to do some looking around.
Posted on February 20, 2010
Tonight I had the privilege of spending the waning minutes of sunlight with Jessica + Jeff. They are such an awesome couple and, even though our shoot was very short this time, it felt like we already knew each other so well. It was short, but I had a blast (sometimes the short shoots are a lot of fun). Here are a few sneak peaks of what we ended up with chasing the last few sun rays as the sun slipped behind the Portland hills.
Posted on February 15, 2010
I have been dying to shoot in Portland’s gritty, post-Winter blues and today was a perfect day to do just that. Christine asked if I would shoot some stuff for her, since her wedding photographer bailed on them at the last minute. Our only mission was to push the boundaries of bridal photography and find some truly gnarly places. Needless to say, Portland delivered. We walked among used syringes, ducked under fences, and roamed burned out buildings but left with some amazing results. Thanks Christine for spending some time today!
Posted on February 15, 2010
2009 was a wonderful year and I was blessed to meet and work with some wonderful people. Thank you to all of my clients for their support and trust they place in me to document the most amazing moments in their new lives together.
Best of 2009: Engagement Sessions from Scott McNamara on Vimeo.
Scott McNamara Photography